Kim Pyeong Il

Early life

Kim Pyeong Il was born on August 10, 1954 in Pyongyang in the family of the head of the DPRK Kim Il Sung and Kim Sung E, the former secretary of Kim Il Sung. Pyeong Il had a younger brother Kim Yong Il, a half-elder brother Chen Il, who later became the leader of the DPRK, and the elder half-sister Kim Jong-hee ^[1] . It was named in honor of another child (also known by the name of Alexander Irsenovich Kim) with the same name, who was born in Vyatka in 1944, but drowned in Pyongyang in 1947 ^[2] . Kim Pyeong Il graduated from the University. Kim Il Sung, majoring in Economics, and then enrolled in the National Military College. Kim Il Sung, after which he was appointed commander of the battalion ^[3] .

In the 1970s, he competed with his older brother. In those days, Kim Pyeong Il was known as a womanizer. Kim Jong Il knew that this could pose a threat to the personality cult surrounding their father Kim Il Sung, and reported this. According to reports, Kim Il Sung was furious with the behavior of his youngest son, and thus Kim Pyeong Il lost his position in the struggle for power ^[4] .

Diplomatic career

In 1979, Kim Pyeong-il began a series of diplomatic trips to European countries. His first overseas assignment was to work at an embassy in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia . In 1988, he was transferred to the post of ambassador to the Hungarian People’s Republic , but was later transferred to the People’s Republic of Bulgaria in response to the opening of diplomatic relations between Hungary and the Republic of Korea in 1989. This was followed by work in Finland ^{[5] [6]} .

In 1998, after the DPRK closed its embassy in Finland to save money and prevent desertion, Pyeong Il was sent to Poland. Initially, his work as ambassador was in limbo, because nine months after his appointment, he had not yet formally presented his credentials to the Polish president ^[7] . However, he remained ambassador to Poland, and his children, Kim Eun Song and Kim Ying Kang, continued to attend university in Poland. He rarely appeared in the diplomatic community of Warsaw, only occasionally appearing in the Algerian, Russian and Syrian embassies.

In 2015, he was transferred to the Czech Republic ^[8] .

Kim Pyeong-il is still considered a threat to the North Korean government because of its resemblance to father Kim Il Sung. According to reports, he is under surveillance by the DPRK and the Republic of Korea.

In July 2011, South Korean media reported the return of Pyeong Il to Pyongyang. Some sources claimed that he was under house arrest there since May, although others suggest that he simply visited his dying mother, Kim Sung-e, or was preparing to celebrate the anniversary of his father's death ^[9] .

In December 2011, South Korean officials announced that Kim Pyeong Il was in Poland and would not attend Kim Jong Il's funeral. He and his mother attended Kim Il Sung's funeral in 1994, but North Korean television cut them out of the broadcast. ^[10]